The Global Gender and Environment Outlook (GGEO) provides an overview of critical evaluations and analyses of the interlinkages between gender and the environment, and their importance for gender-sensitive policymaking and actions. The GGEO was first proposed by the Network of Women Ministers and Leaders for the Environment (NWMLE) to UNEP at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20). The 2014 United Nations Environment Assembly subsequently welcomed the development of the GGEO, and the use of social science information and gender relevant indicators to examine the links between gender and the environment. The report describes policy options and concrete opportunities to contribute to the future we want - a future of justice and equality that leaves no one behind. It reflects and builds on the ground-breaking work of hundreds of scientists, policy experts, gender advocates and members of community groups. And it examines a wide range of topics, including food production, water and sanitation, energy, sustainable consumption and production, fisheries and fishing communities, and forests and those who depend on them for their livelihoods.

Virtually everywhere in the world, environmental change has different impacts on women and men. Gender also has a role in determining how – and sometimes whether – people are able to act as agents of change on their own natural environments.

We envisage a world of universal respect for human rights and human dignity, the rule of law, justice, equality and non-discrimination; of respect for race, ethnicity and cultural diversity; and of equal opportunity permitting the full realization of human potential and contributing to shared prosperity. A world which invests in its children and in which every child grows up free from violence and exploitation. A world in which every woman and girl enjoys full gender equality and all legal, social and economic barriers to their empowerment have been removed. A just, equitable, tolerant, open and socially inclusive world in which the needs of the most vulnerable are met.

As documented in earlier chapters, gender equality and sustainable development are thoroughly enmeshed. In every assessed environmental dimension – food and energy, or forest and water – it is demonstrably the case that environmental degradation is associated with gender inequalities and in turn also aggravates these inequalities. On the other hand, reducing the gender gap can enable progress towards more sustainable development and environmental solutions.

The data team for GGEO undertook a global analysis of available data at the intersection of gender and environment. The result is a compilation of 17 indicators that provide the broadest coverage of countries. While these indicators represent a limited portion of the data and information needed to offer a comprehensive picture of gender aspects of environmental issues, compiling these indicators into one resource supports UNEP’s environmental assessment processes and provides a baseline that also aligns with the SDGs.